Your First Visit to Tokyo

It’s huge, it can jangle your nerves and it tends to be expensive, but for an experience that feeds all of your senses and leaves you wanting more, go to Tokyo and go now. Here is what Sheila Scarborough recommends for a first-timer’s trip.

Tokyo is an exceptionally vast city, with a culture that is embedded with etiquette and rich in history and experiences. Understanding the real Tokyo is indeed difficult to do on your own, and understanding the nuances peculiar to the Japanese way of life is highly challenging, yet ultimately totally rewarding.

Gordon and Paula write about their experiences with a volunteer tour organisation in Tokyo.

Summer Hull visited Japan for the first time and had very little clue as to what she was doing. This post talks about her experiences and how she managed to enjoy her trip despite the language barrier and misunderstandings..

Tips for exploring Tokyo

For many, traveling to a big city makes it hard to find the cultural immersion they’re looking for. In between the modern skyscrapers, 5-star hotels and new age fusion restaurants, however, there are traditional experiences to be had. You just need to know where to find them.

Geneva Vanderzeil realized that she couldn’t possibly explore the whole sprawling city. This post explores her time ‘around Harajuku, the centre of teen culture in Tokyo, which informally stretches between Harajuku Station and Omotesando.

Any Tokyo travel guide can help you find where the shopping malls are, but where do local Japanese girls like to shop in Tokyo for Japanese brands? Mimika asked her Japanese friends who live there where they like to shop, and shared the top 3 places recommended for shopping in Tokyo.

Tokyo is a city of extremes. A city with ultra modern skyscrapers that are next to ancient temples. The politest city dwellers anywhere on the planet that also have a strange kinky side to them and traditional restaurants next door to maid cafes. You will see more weird and wonderful things in a day in Tokyo than you would in many other cities combined.

In this post, Karen and Paul shared some of the eclectic things they found during their stay in Tokyo.

Lost in Translation captures both the enthralling allure and mysteriousness of Tokyo for uninitiated Westerners. English signage is sparse, cab drivers many times don’t know where they are going and true to the film’s title, a lot of exchanges do get lost in translation. But however you manage to get around, there’s much to love about the exciting metropolis. Here’s Forbes guide to spending two days in Tokyo in style.

Saving Money on travel in Tokyo

Eating out in Tokyo is affordable if you follow a few basic budget tips and if you know where to look for your next meal. The great thing about Japanese cuisine is that cheap does not necessarily mean unhealthy. For just a few yen you can feast on delicious ramen, udon soup, fresh sushi, noodles, curry and donbori.

Christine Ka’aloa knew that visiting Tokyo would be expensive. Some of her friends recommended a budget of $100 per day. She had thought about avoiding Tokyo altogether…or doing a chicken run of something short, like two days.

She turned it into a challenge. In this post, she talks about how she survived on a budget of $30 per day – including accommodation.

Many traveler’s assume Japan is so expensive as to be out of reach, but times are changing. Japan can still be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are 20 tips to help you economize on your trip. Follow them, and you may well have funds left over for a few splurges.

Brilliant articles on Tokyo

Beth, from Besudesu Abroad, has written several comprehensive posts. We recommend reading:

In a country where a unique culture with often strange trends blends with food, it’s no surprise that unusual themed restaurants are becoming the next big thing. Whether you want to eat amidst giant Gundams, cats, or cutely dressed maids, Tokyo seems to have something for everyone

Beth also has an series of articles about Tokyo Disney that are incredibly informative and useful for those who are struggling to decide what to do and where to stay:

Visiting Japan with kids

Nicole Avery took her five kids on a holiday to Japan, staying three nights in Tokyo and three nights in Osaka. They were all very excited to be going, but they had some quiet reservations – would the kids eat the food, would we be able to get around without understanding the language, would everything be super expensive?

Japan Rail Passes

If you are staying for longer than a week in Japan and are going to travel by train between major cities, a Japan rail pass would definitely be the economical way to go. You must buy them before you get to Japan. Check out this site for more information.

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Now it’s your turn

We recently decided to bring back our Sunday Spotlight series but wanted to make it even better. We’ve rejigged the old format so posts are organized by categories. We’d love your feedback, we want to make this series better than ever.

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About Craig

Craig Makepeace is the co-founder of yTravel Blog. He's been traveling and living around the world since 2002 and believes that life is all about accumulating memories and moments with his family, not just possessions.

Questions & Comments

This is too good, I will be in Tokyo in 2 days and you have just fed me every resource I need. Really appreciate it, Cheers. P.S look out for my video to come on Tokyo in about a weeks time, thanks again

This is a great resource and I discovered a couple of new travel blogs that I like. I will probably be returning to Tokyo within the next year or two as a close friend plans on getting married there, so have been keeping an eye out for interesting tokyo articles and travel tips.

As for a Tokyo travel tip of my own, I recommend going on a day trip somewhere from the centre of Tokyo. It’s so easy to do with the efficient train system that goes everywhere. I especially loved visiting Kamakura where there’s a whole complex of Buddhist temples to explore and the Daibatsu (giant buddha statue).

Kamakura is great indeed. The Daibutsu (not Daibatsu) is famous and is one of the biggest buddha statues that is placed outside in Japan. Another one can be found on Nokogiriyama, a mountain in Chiba. That’s also a nice day trip from Tokyo. 🙂

I am sure that there is no lack of things to do in Tokyo – this looks like a great guide. I’ve never been to Tokyo but it’s definitely on my “must see” list. Along with almost every other place in the world. I’ve got some work to do, haha!

I’ve been to Tokyo a few times as I live in Japan. It’s not my favorite place, but certainly something tourists should experience. I recommend trying to get a good mix of everything Tokyo has to offer from the electronic and anime home in Akihabara, to the crazy shopping districts of Harajuku and Shibuya, the beautiful nature and things to do for families in Yoyogi Park or Ueno and visiting old shrines and temples e.g. in Asakusa.

There are several things you can explore as a day trip from Tokyo, e.g. Kamakura, Hakone, Nikko or even Mt. Fuji. 🙂

In summer many people leave from Shinjuku in Tokyo to climb Mt. Fuji – all the more since it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site last year.

Great collection guys! I am planning a trip to Tokyo in October, so all these awesome links are bookmarked! Can’t wait to read them all and pick the coolest things to do. Just have to wait for a decent priced ticket….

Great round up of Tokyo resources! I absolutely loved Tokyo. One great tip I have to add is to hit the Tsukiji Fish Market– try to catch the 5 a.m. live tuna auction.

The only problem is that unless you’re lucky enough to be staying right in downtown Tokyo (which is crazy expensive) getting to the market for the early morning auction is tricky– trains don’t start up again for hours and a cab ride (even within Tokyo) might be $200 US.

So the best thing to do is dump off your bags at your hotel on arrival, then hit downtown Tokyo while the trains are still running and stay out all night (you’ll be jet lagged anyway so you won’t know the difference). After the auction, join the crowds for a 6 a.m. sushi breakfast at the market– it will be the best sushi you’ve ever had (I recommend the tuna belly). I didn’t think we could pull it off but it turned out to be a memorable night and actually a pretty common thing to do (everyone else we met at the market had done the same thing).

Awesome post, Craig and thanks for the inclusion. But I wish you put this guide together before I left. ha ha. Lots of wonderful links in here- you’ve easily distracted the start of my morning with reading about Tokyo.

Thanks for featuring my post on where do locals shop in Tokyo! Also check out my other Tokyo travel posts from getting a hair cut in Tokyo to the best shopping tips! I’ll be add more Tokyo related posts real soon! http://mimikaayu.blogspot.com.au/p/tutorial.html

Going to Tokyo was amazing, it was the time when I really felt so far from home, but in a good way. Totally new culture and I just fell in love with Asia! It made me realise how small the world can be and how achievable those dreams of travel can be! Not to mention the craziness that is Tokyo itself! 🙂

It’s a bizarre World, like not even from this planet… Staggering shocking high prices, though. I was on budget and I could barely move, it was so expensive. I think many things have changed since I was there in 1999. But Tokyo had me lost in there… from Shibuya to Akihabara I explored as much as I could.

Tokyo is indeed a huge city. There are so many things to do in Tokyo that it is impossible to do it in only one or two weeks. Seeing the picture of the capsule hotel reminds me my first trip in Japan. Most of the people I know are pretty afraid to sleep in a 1x1x2m box. But it was actually totally fine. I actually really enjoyed the night in a capsule hotel. Anything needed was there. Capsule was big enough to be comfortable.

Thank you for the really nice post that reminded me my first time in Tokyo.

Even though I have been to Japan before there are some useful tips in here. I didn’t know about the voluntary tour guides. But that is an awesome thing 🙂 When I was in South Korea I encountered some voluntary tour guides and exploring some of Soeul’s sites with them was a lot of fun and interesting. I should try it again in Japan 🙂 Btw, for people who are interested in reading about my journey in Japan, feel free to visit my blog! http://beautifultravelhangover.blogspot.nl If you have any questions about traveling in Japan, you can always contact me 🙂

Hi Craig! Thank you for sharing these great Tokyo travel tips. I have to agree that eating out in Tokyo need not to be expensive. Local fast food chains like Matsuya beef bowls are cheap (starting at USD4), of very decent quality and are very filling.

I love the massive public parks in Tokyo especially during the cherry blossom season – Ueno, Shinjuku Gyoen, Yoyogi and the East Gardens of Imperial Palace. These are great places to experience hanami picnics. 🙂

That’s super interesting! I’ve been in Japan for the first time last year and I cannot wait for my next trip. I actually just post an guide for 48h in Tokyo. Here it is: http://www.milesofhappiness.com/blog/48h-in-tokyo It’s a wonderful country!!

During my first year student I slept in a guesthouse in Asakusa, which for me is the best area to stay in Tokyo because many tourist attractions are nearby. And I also experienced hotels capsules: awesome!